Field of the Disclosed Subject Matter
The present disclosed subject matter relates generally to plastic containers, for example a large format polymer container for packaging and storing liquids.
Description of Related Art
Many liquids, including edible oils, motor oils, agricultural chemicals, and the like, are often packaged, shipped, and stored in large format polymer containers. Furthermore, it is often desirable to dispense or otherwise pour the liquid contents from such large format polymer containers. However, such containers can be heavy, typically weighing 1100-1200 grams, or more, and can be expensive to manufacture. Such containers can also be difficult for a user to manipulate to pour the liquid therefrom. For example, large format polymer containers of conventional design can have unsuitably thin handles with seams, which can be uncomfortable on the hands of users manipulating the container.
Additionally, the large format polymer containers of conventional design can also cause the liquid to “glug” or abruptly fluctuate in flow when being poured. For example, as the container is tilted forward, the mouth or neck portion can generally be lowered below the liquid level in the container, thereby trapping the air in the container above the liquid. Unsuitable venting in the container can cause the flow of liquid out of the container to alternate with the flow of air therein, and thus can interrupt the continuous, smooth flow of liquid and produce a glugging or gulping action. The poured stream from the container can thus become difficult to control and can cause liquid to spill from the container.
Furthermore, it is often desirable to stack a plurality of large format polymer containers for shipping and storage. However, large format polymer containers often are unable to support a suitable load thereon, for example for stacking a plurality of similarly configured containers. The reduced or limited ability to stack several containers on top of each other can result in wasted space and inefficiency. It therefore is currently common practice to package large format containers individually in exterior cardboard boxes when stacking several containers on top of each other, which results in wasted space and materials, and increased costs.
As such, there is a continued need for a large format rigid structured polymer container with improved load strength, for example for stacking, yet being easy to manipulate, to prevent a glugging action from interfering with pouring fluid contents from the container.